We are an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the history, culture and true lives of Romani people worldwide.
We confront racism and oppression wherever we encounter it.
We try to make connections with all the "isms" that make up western culture.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

REQUEST TO HILLARY CLINTON

From Morgan---We've been asking President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the State Department to speak in support of the Romani of Kosovo who are living on abandoned lead mines. We have also asked about moving these Romani people to a more than half empty US military base in Kosovo. We have yet to receive any response in over a year of inquiries and supplications.
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FROM HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST

Washington, DC – Human Rights First today urged U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to comment publicly on the expulsions of Roma from France and the discourse of intolerance used by some French politicians. In a letter also signed by Amnesty International USA, Council for Global Equality, European Roma Rights Center, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Open Society Institute, and the Public Interest Law Institute, the groups noted Secretary Clinton's long-term commitment to promoting the rights of Roma and urged the U.S. State Department to specifically address the ongoing situation in France.

Across Europe, Roma are currently facing an array of discriminatory and segregatorypolicies. Increasingly, Roma individuals and communities are victimized by private acts of bias-motivated violence, or hate crime, that further threatens the security of this vulnerable population. On numerous occasions, the United States has pronounced its motivation to combat discrimination, segregation, and violence against Roma.

"Your support would not only draw attention to this particular violation of human rights, but also signal to other countries where Roma are facing significant challenges that the U.S. takes seriously discrimination and collective action against ethnic minorities," the groups' letter to Secretary Clinton notes.

Since July 2010, the French government has dismantled two hundred camps populated by Roma and Traveler groups. It has also expelled approximately 1,230 Roma individuals from France back to their countries of origin, mainly Romania and Bulgaria, though a variety of means such as mandatory deportation orders and so-called "voluntary" repatriations. Rights groups maintain that such singling out of a particular ethnic group for law enforcement action is impermissible, and the French expulsions appear to violate numerous due process guarantees provided for by European Union (E.U.) law.

E.U. laws assert the right of each E.U. citizen to move freely across the territories of its 27 member states. The European Commission, the executive body responsible for enforcing E.U. laws, is currently evaluating if France's actions are in compliance with the E.U. Charter of Fundamental Rights, as well as Directive 2004/38/EC. According to the rules, individuals who no longer fulfill residency requirements can only be expelled if the decision is proportionate and sent to them one month in advance "in writing, fully justified and open to appeal." Collective expulsions are prohibited—as is ethnic profiling—and each case must be studied separately.

"Since you have championed human rights and Roma rights in particular, your response to these expulsions is critical. We urge you to speak today to show political condemnation of France's handling of the Roma evictions and expulsions, as well as the negative stereotyping of Roma by French politicians. The alternative—silence—may only undermine the security and safety of Roma throughout Europe," the groups' letter concludes

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FLAG OF THE ROMA

LOLO DIKLO : RrOMANI AGAINST RACISM

Lolo Diklo : Rromani Against Racism is an organization dedicated to providing information about the true situation of the Romani (Gypsies) in the world today. We are committed to confronting racism and oppression wherever it is found.

BACKGROUND

The Romani are a people who are not very well known. We are an ethnic group of people originally from India. We left India and arrived in Europe sometime in the 1300's. There are many theories as to why we left India. This is the work of academics, and we have some. Most Romani are more concerned about daily survival to worry about documentation of our past. We know who we are.

What is known about the Romani is, for the most part, stereotypically based. We are portrayed as romantic, carefree wonderers or child stealers, pick pockets and beggers.

Today the Romani of Europe face the same discrimination they have faced for centuries.